Category: New Economics

This category is about the relation between business economies and sustainability and CSR. Company economies have great impact on how much effort they put into their CSR strategy and incorporating green strategies can have en effect on company growth.

Though some worry that the introduction of tablets into the classroom will only increase a student’s digital dependence and cripple them for “real world” experiences, the truth is that the use of tablets introduces a whole new set of tools to the classroom, and can benefit students — and the environment — in many ways.

How do businesses in the apparel industry ensure that their customer base will not only stay, but grow? We talk to two companies and look at recent statistics that suggest the success of a sustainable business starts, like everything else, with the environment.

This past Friday, we received the welcome news from the State Department that the review period for the Keystone XL pipeline would be extended – a decision that offers both an opportunity and an acknowledgment. First and foremost, it’s an opportunity for the State Department to address the inherent flaws in its environmental review by looking at Keystone XL through a simple prism: Is the pipeline truly in America’s national interest?

Any currency has value — but only if a large community uses and accepts it as payment. For SolarCoin, the new digital currency designed to promote solar electricity production, this need to scale-up is the primary barrier to gaining value as a form of money.

Last week, CSRWire’s Aman Singh and I convened a twitter chat with with SAP’s @PeterGGraf, BSR’s @AronCramer, CDP’s @TopNigel. We discussed the intricacies of pursuing sustainability alongside business growth and social prosperity. It was one of our widest reaching twitter chats yet with 232 contributors, 1,388 tweets & over 9 million impressions.

A recent report from Americans for Tax Fairness estimates that Walmart workers relying on public assistance programs due to low wages cost American taxpayers $6.2 billion a year. Another interesting figure presented in the report was that Walmart has captured 18 percent of the SNAP (food stamps program) market. It got me thinking that if a substantial number of Walmart’s employees in the U.S. (1.3 million in total) receive food stamps, then the company actually profits twice from paying low-wages.

In addition to the inspections, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety says that more than 400,000 factory managers and workers have been trained to date, and the intent is to train more than 1 million by July.

We would like to take a moment to thank those of you who participated in our annual readership survey. Overall, we received a plethora of positive comments and thoughtful insights on what is both enjoyed and desired for the future.

The truth is that it can be difficult to get employees to engage with corporate sustainability programs, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Described in this post are three successful programs that draw on basic human psychology to achieve their goals.

The 265-page “Shale-Gas Monitoring Report,” is just that: a comprehensive and carefully worded document about the results of the monitoring the state has conducted since 2011, while avoiding the use of the term hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Women are making leaps and bounds in the business world and are being honored for their social impact, innovation, and contributions to the workforce. Here are three examples of businesses that are honoring their female employees for all that they do.

Returns of $15:1 and more job creation than offshore oil & gas development are among the economic benefits of coastal ecosystem restoration projects, according to a study of projects on three U.S. coasts by the Center for American Progress and Oxfam America.